Leaders Far Too Worried About “Looking Weak”

A couple of days ago, a new Harris Poll/Turas Leadership survey dropped. One key finding made my jaw drop.

According to the survey, 63% of senior business leaders (directors and above) say they would seek input more often from their teams to help make big decisions…if they didn’t think doing so would make them look weak.

71% of male leaders expressed this sentiment. 46% (!!!) of female leaders did the same.

Apparently, in the year 2026, asking for collaboration and input in the business world still isn’t a common occurrence. That in and of itself is shocking to me. We’ve been talking about the importance of diversity in thinking and operating for decades, and the benefits have been documented at length. What’s more, all forms of leadership training have stressed this for as long as I can remember. I can’t believe that more people haven’t gotten the message by now.

And for the reason that leaders aren’t doing this to be that they’re afraid…that they’re worried about their ego taking a hit…it amazes me. It makes sense, of course, but I thought we all got past this decades ago.

That got me thinking…the flipside also must be true. The 37% of leaders inviting, listening and acting on input have to be establishing a cultural competitive advantage. This is where morale is much more likely to be higher. Where employees are more likely to want to give their best every day. Where they probably don’t mind going into the office versus working remotely. All of this shows up directly in customer service, value delivery and every other business function.

I didn’t think I’d have to write this, but be the kind of organization/leader that values and listens to what people have to say. Where a 1:1 is a two-way dialogue, not just a boss/subordinate direction session. Understand that diversity of thought leads to better business outcomes at all levels. Act in ways that show your people that you respect them. These days, it appears you’ll have an edge on the market just by doing what people have been talking about as a best practice for a long time.

PS - not so coincidentally, 90% of all those senior leaders said they wish their teams would share constructive feedback that challenges them and/or the organizational status quo more often. Oh, the irony!